Name: Sian Elin
City: Cardiff
Website: www.sianelin.com
As a new startup interior design company, it has been important for Sian Elin to employ inexpensive ways of marketing products to increase sales. We have achieved this by gaining widespread press and media coverage in major publications like The Times, The Guardian, Grand Designs, Elle Decoration and the BBC.
The first step was to invest in top-quality professional photography. We started out with three carefully composed lifestyle images, which were picked up by major publications all over the world; one became the face of London Design Week 2013 on the front page of The London Evening Standard. Secondly, we were able to showcase our products at world-class trade shows such as Tent London and Home London thanks to successful funding applications with the Arts Council of Wales. This enabled us to put our products in front of top press at the forefront of the design world, enabling us to make contact with our target audience, without the significant expenditure of employing a PR agency. Thirdly, we have maintained and built a growing list of contacts by using free software to publish press releases with updated images and copy. This has meant new products feature in up-to-date design news across a multitude of publications.
The past twelve months have seen a 100% increase in sales via effective marketing and PR. We have attracted stockists such as Heal’s and Oliver Bonas. People buy from those they know and trust, and regular features in top publications develop brand confidence.
Sian Elin Thomas is the founder of Sian Elin
